The Mandatory Third-Party Liability Insurance Guarantee Fund
Non-insurance : an increasingly common phenomenon
The number of accidents caused by uninsured individuals has been increasing year after year.
In 2018, the FGAO processed 25,973 uninsured vehicle claims. The impacts of this phenomenon are particularly measurable in terms of personal injury accidents. While the French Road Safety Observatory (ONISR) has recorded a 24% drop in personal injury accidents in France between 2015 and 2009, the claims opened by the FGAO for these same accidents over the same period are on the rise: + 15.60 %. An unprecedented situation: the FGAO’s share in all accidents involving personal injury exceeded the 10% mark for the first time in 2015 (compared with 6.91% in 2009).
A phenomenon borne by policyholders
The Guarantee Fund for Victims estimates that more than 750,000 uninsured vehicles (excluding two-wheelers) could be on the roads in France, representing more than 2% of all privately-owned vehicles. However, it is the policyholders who bear most of the burden of non-insurance, since they contribute to funding the FGAO through their insurance premiums. More than ever, non-insurance remains a major road safety issue. Driving without insurance is often indicative of risky behaviour. Uninsured drivers prove to be more dangerous than others, particularly because they have a higher number of offences.
A major breakthrough
Furthermore, when the at-fault party lacks or is excluded from cover, they alone must face all the financial consequences for the victims, as the FGAO turns against the uninsured person responsible after compensating the victims. This leaves them with considerable debts to repay.
In 2018, the FGAO paid out €153 million to compensate traffic accident victims and €10.7 million was recovered from those responsible for uninsured accidents.
To combat this disturbing phenomenon, the Guarantee Fund for Victims has, for several years, been advocating the creation of a centralised register matching registered vehicles with insurance contracts. In 2016, there was a major step forward regarding this, with Parliament’s vote on the principle of creating an uninsured vehicle record.
Raising awareness
In order to raise public awareness about non-insurance, the FGAO regularly launches prevention campaigns with the following message ‘Discover the real cost of living without insurance ‘.
Launched in 2014, the campaign kicked off a series of actions both online and in the field. It first relies on a digital campaign, with the broadcasting of videos on YouTube, viewed many times, a Facebook account, and a Twitter account called ‘Roulez assuré’ (‘Drive insured’).
Prevention is also being targeted as closely as possible at young people, who are particularly likely to be uninsured. As a partner of the Wimoov association, which is involved with secondary school pupils, the FGAO has participated in several road safety days at Parisian universities. Tens of thousands of ‘sacs du bac’ (‘grad bags’) with information leaflets were also distributed in the baccalaureate assessment centres to make future secondary school graduates aware of the risks of driving without insurance.
Discover our prevention campaign on the dedicated website Roulez-assuré.fr
The FGAO sittings
On 21 March 2019, the FGAO organised its first Sittings on the topic of driving without insurance and insurance company failures. This day brought together more than 20 distinguished speakers and over 150 people.
Visit the website to rewatch the event.